Nepal Film and Culture Academy and Nepal International Film Festival Felicitate Team of ‘Elephants in the Fog’

A sharing and felicitation programme was jointly organised by Nepal Film and Culture Academy and Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) on Wednesday at Orient Cafe at 1 PM to honour the team behind the critically acclaimed Nepali film Elephants in the Fog. The event brought together the film’s director Avinash Bikram Shah, producer Anup Poudel, co-writer Sandeep Badal, and actress Pushpa Thing Lama, celebrating the team’s remarkable journey and the milestone they have achieved for Nepali cinema on the international stage.

Elephants in the Fog tells the story of a woman from the Kinnar community — a community that, much like an elephant in the fog, is impossible to ignore yet continues to remain unseen in its full humanity. 

Speaking at the programme, NIFF Director Mr. KP Pathak expressed immense pride and joy over the team’s achievement. He shared that the film and its team have truly set a benchmark for Nepali filmmakers and noted that there are places in the world where people do not even know Nepal exists, let alone that Nepal produces films. He said the team worked incredibly hard and reached a milestone that deserves deep recognition, adding that he personally feels like hugging each one of them for what they have accomplished.

Actress Pushpa Thing Lama, who belongs to the Kinnar community, spoke movingly about her journey into cinema. She shared that director Avinash Bikram Shah was deeply passionate about the Kinnar community and had personally searched for her to be a part of this film. She reflected that at the time, all she had been doing was advocating for the rights and existence of her community, and it was in that process that the entire team approached her. She described the journey of becoming an actor from a non-actor background as truly awesome and said she had honestly never even dreamed of reaching a place like Cannes. What made it even more special, she said, was being able to show the real and authentic side of the Kinnar community at Cannes, and through that experience, she felt she had somehow lived a dream.

Producer Anup Poudel spoke candidly about his passion for making films centered around women and communities whose voices have long needed to be heard. He expressed that producers are often seen merely as people who bring money to a project, but he wanted to make clear that a producer also carries a voice and a vision. He added that whether it is Elephants in the Fog or his  film Ek Mutthi Badal, his work has always aimed to break certain narratives within Nepali cinema and tell the stories of women who have silently kept this world functioning — stories that deserve to be told and heard.

Director Avinash Bikram Shah began by warmly thanking the organizers and all the supporters for the immense love they have shown towards the film. He spoke about the extensive research that went into the making of the film before a single frame was shot, acknowledging that he was nowhere close to the Kinnar community or the geography the story is set in. He shared that the process of empathizing with the community and understanding that distinct geography made him realize a great deal, including how the story was truly meant to be told. He was firm in his intent that he would not restrict the community members into dialogues or become the outsider who simply swooped in and made their film. Instead, he wanted to be an observer and let things flow in their own unique and organic way.

He further elaborated on his desire to break stereotypes and present an authentic portrayal, pointing out that the common approach to the Kinnar community in storytelling has always been to say they struggle and they have pain and then stop there. But he urged audiences to look more closely, as there is also fun, warmth, and something deeply interesting to see, feel, and realize within this community and their world.

Avinash also shared a deeply meaningful insight that a Kinnar woman had offered him during the research process. She had explained how, just like an elephant is described differently by different people who focus only on individual parts and limit it to a narrow explanation, the Kinnar community is similarly never treated as a complete human being. Some see them as sex workers, some as entertainers, and some as wish fulfillers, but their full humanity is never truly acknowledged. He said he could immediately relate this to elephants, and the metaphor became central to the film. He added that just as an elephant cannot go unnoticed, it can still remain under the fog — and that, he said, captured the very essence of what he wanted to express.

Following the individual addresses, the floor was opened for discussion where attendees engaged in conversations around the production aspects of the film and its interpretation for international audiences. The programme concluded with NIFF Director Mr. KP Pathak presenting certificates and tokens of felicitation to the team members, and the Deputy Director of Nepal Film and Culture
Academy delivering the vote of thanks.